A wide range of means have been disclosed for the brewing of tea and coffee including percolators, drip methods, and french press. The french press is among the most effective means for extracting the best flavors from tea leaves and ground coffee. The most common french presses are non electric and depend upon preheating the water by conventional means and transferring the hot water to a french press for extraction of the tea leaves or coffee. The electric french press is a similar means to prepare such beverages that boils the water directly in the kettle to insure that the water is at boiling temperature at the start of the brewing cycle.
A conventional electric french press type kettle such as described in PCT WO 00/40128 and (PCT/EP99/10357) (DE 19706523A1) is a glass or plastic water vessel with an electric heater plate which is in contact with the water. In such prior art, electrical connection to the kettle and the heater is commonly made through a detachable supporting base that contains an electrical connector which inserts into an electrical socket on the underside of the base enclosure of the kettle. It is common also for the kettle to have a handle on which there is a steam actuated electrical switch that will interrupt all power to the heater plate whenever the water boils and generates steam. However, these conventional brewing devices lack versatility, lack sufficiently precise control of the water temperature during the actual brewing process and have other limitations found to be objectionable by the serious consumer of these beverages.